Wearable life support apparatus and method

ABSTRACT

A wearable life support apparatus worn by a user is disclosed. A physiological information acquirement unit acquires the user&#39;s physiological information. An action information acquirement unit acquires the user&#39;s action information. A status recognition unit recognizes the user&#39;s status in accordance with the action information. A physiological information decision unit decides whether the physiological information is normal in accordance with the user&#39;s status. A presentation unit presents the decision result of the physiological information decision unit to the user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to wearable life support apparatusand method for measuring a user's status while wearing the device andfor supporting the user's activities such as health control and personalnavigation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Geriatric diseases such as an apoplexy, heart disease, anddiabetes, may originate because of life style choices such as anunbalanced diet, lack of exercise, an irregular life, and stress. Suchdiseases are thus defined as “life style related disease”. Recently, thedisease due to the life style is greatly recognized. Especially, therecognition advances along direction to make much of first prevention(health) from usual second prevention (an early detection, an earlymedical treatment).

[0003] Many apparatus of a wearable type have been suggested to acquirethe user's physiological information and control the user's healthcondition. For example, in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai)PH11-53319, the user inputs meal data and movement data through aportable terminal, or the sensor measures these data. The user's healthis then controlled based on the data. In Japanese Patent Disclosure(Kokai) PH10-295651, a host computer controls health information of theuser through a network. However, in these references, the user mustinput meal menu or meal material as the food data, and this operation isvery troublesome for the user. In addition to three times meal everyday, it is very hard for the user to input something between meals andhis luxury meals.

[0004] In Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) PH11-53454, the portableterminal presents health advice to the user at random. Because the useroften forgets health control if he does not always take care of health.However, in this reference, the health advice is presented to the userat random. It is useless if the health advice is not present at adequatetiming based on the user's status. Conversely, it disturbs the user'swork and the user is put under stress.

[0005] In Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) PH9-322882, a portableterminal of a wearable type records the health information. In thiscase, by setting times to record vital data, the health information isoutput by speech. However, in this reference, the measurement time ispresented, but the user must operate the measurement. Furthermore, theuser cannot understand the relationship with his behavior and the reasonof change of health condition. When the record time is presented to theuser, if the user cannot keep quiet, he feels inconvenience in practicaluse.

[0006] Wearable computers have been suggested. The wearable computer isdivided into each component (ex. CPU, display, communication part) wornby the user. A physiological sensor and an environmental sensor arecombined with the wearable computer. By recognizing the user's status,adequate information is presented to the user. This function torecognize the user's status is called “context awareness”. Thisoperation is executed by speech dialogue because of hand-free operation.

[0007] Furthermore, in Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) PH10-305016,the user's action information is acquired by location information from aGPS (Global Positioning System), schedule data, and the physiologicalinformation such as brain waves. The action information is recorded incorrespondence with the physiological information such as pulse rate,body temperature, blood pressure, sweating. In this case, decision datarepresenting whether the schedule is good for the user is also recorded,and advice of future schedule is created based on the decision data.However, in this reference, because the user must previously input allschedule information, this operation is very troublesome for the userand the action information is not sufficiently obtained. Furthermore,even if the user inputs his schedule, he does not always follow thatschedule. In short, it is possible that his actual behavior is notmatched with the schedule, and the schedule is incorrect.

[0008] As mentioned-above, many apparatuses of a wearable type toacquire the user's physiological information and control the user'shealth condition are known. However, the measured physiologicalinformation largely changes according to the user's behavior. Therefore,a correct decision of health condition is difficult if the physiologicalinformation is not measured in correspondence with the user's behavior.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] It is an object of the present invention to provide a wearablelife support apparatus and method for correctly supporting the user'slife such as health control by a wearable device.

[0010] According to the present invention, there is provided a wearablelife support apparatus which is worn by a user, comprising: aphysiological information acquirement unit configured to acquirephysiological information; an action information acquirement unitconfigured to acquire action information; a status recognition unitconfigured to recognize a status in accordance with the actioninformation; a physiological information decision unit configured todecide whether the acquired physiological information is normal inaccordance with the recognized status; and a presentation unitconfigured to present a decision result of said physiologicalinformation decision unit.

[0011] Further in accordance with the present invention, there is alsoprovided a method for supporting a user's life using a wearable typedevice, comprising the steps of: acquiring the user's physiologicalinformation through the wearable type device; acquiring the user'saction information through the wearable type device; recognizing theuser's status in accordance with the action information; decidingwhether the physiological information is normal in accordance with theuser's status; and presenting a decision result at the deciding stepthrough the wearable type device.

[0012] Further in accordance with the present invention, there is alsoprovided a computer-readable memory containing computer-readableinstructions to support a user's life using a wearable type device,comprising: an instruction unit to acquire the user's physiologicalinformation through the wearable type device; an instruction unit toacquire the user's action information through the wearable type device;an instruction unit to recognize the user's status in accordance withthe action information; an instruction unit to decide whether thephysiological information is normal in accordance with the user'sstatus; and an instruction unit to present the decision result throughthe wearable type device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a wearable lifesupport apparatus.

[0014]FIG. 2 is an example of components in a sensor module of thewearable life support apparatus shown in FIG. 1.

[0015]FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a wearable life support apparatusaccording to a modification of the embodiment.

[0016]FIG. 4 is an example of components in a sensor module of thewearable life support apparatus shown in FIG. 3.

[0017]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of processing of the wearable life supportapparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0018]FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a correspondence table betweenaction information and behavior.

[0019]FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a relationship plan to setpersonal tendency and limit of measurement value.

[0020]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of processing of a wearable life supportapparatus according to a second embodiment.

[0021]FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a trend graph of blood pressureduring one day.

[0022]FIG. 10 is a display example of graph of pulse and action posture.

[0023]FIG. 11 is a display example of retrieval result ofsynchronization data with graph of pulse and action posture.

[0024]FIG. 12 is a display example of stress during one day.

[0025]FIG. 13 is a display example of stress during one week.

[0026]FIG. 14 is a display example of stress during one month.

[0027] FIGS. 15A-15D are examples of a memory format of various kinds ofthe physiological information corpus.

[0028]FIG. 16 is a display example of synchronization data of sensorinformation corpus.

[0029]FIG. 17 is a display example of sensor data of sensor informationcorpus.

[0030]FIG. 18 is an example summary of health conditions during one dayshown on a portable display.

[0031]FIG. 19 is an example trend graph of blood pressure during one dayshown on the portable display.

[0032]FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a wearable life support systemincluding personal corpuses and sensor information corpus on an outsidenetwork according to a third embodiment.

[0033]FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a relationship among thewearable terminal, a home server, and a family doctor/management companyserver according to the third embodiment.

[0034]FIG. 22 is an example of components of a sensor module of thewearable life support apparatus using analogue circuits.

[0035]FIG. 23 is a display example of physiological information corpus.

[0036]FIG. 24 is a selection example of retrieval area of physiologicalinformation.

[0037]FIG. 25 is a display example of the retrieval result.

[0038]FIG. 26 is a selection example of one pulse of electrocardiogramgraph.

[0039]FIG. 27 is a selection example of two pulses of electrocardiogramgraph.

[0040]FIG. 28 is a selection example of arrhythmia of electrocardiogramgraph.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are explainedwith reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wearablelife support apparatus according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. In FIG. 1, a main module 101 includes a memory 1011, a CPU1012, and a Bluetooth chip 1013 to communicate between modules.Bluetooth is one example of a short distance-wireless communicationmeans; other wireless or wired communication protocols could also beused. The main module 101 executes reservation data for the system,unification processing of the system, data communication betweenmodules, and communication to a home server and a management server.

[0042] A sensor module 102 includes a memory 1021, a CPU 1022, aBluetooth chip 1023, an A/D converter 1024, and a preprocess unit 1025.The preprocess unit 1025 executes amplification and preprocessing forsignals from each sensor (pulse wave sensor, electroencephalographysensor, cardiac electrode, myoelectric electrode, body temperaturesensor, GSR electrode). The Bluetooth chip 1023 executes datacommunication to the main module 101. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2,one sensor module is respectively connected to each sensor. However, asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4, one sensor module may be connected to allsensors as one body. If the sensor module is composed as one body,wiring must be formed from each sensor to the sensor module.Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is desirable that the sensormodule is dependently composed for each sensor and the wiring is omittedusing Bluetooth. Furthermore, processing of the sensor and the modulemay be commonly executed. The CPU may be executed by utilizing amicro-controller (For example, Micro Chip Technologies Co., PIC 16F877)including A/D conversion function, and another A/D converter may not beprepared. The preprocess unit 1025 amplifies by gain suitable for eachsignal and includes a high-pass filter or a low-pass filter inproportion to a band of the signal. If necessary, each sensor includes aplurality of channels.

[0043] A cellular-phone 103 may be a common portable telephone includinga liquid crystal display, operation buttons, and a communication unit toinput/output speech. The cellular-phone 103 includes a Bluetooth chip1031 to communicate to the main module 101. By this communication,input/output of speech and cursor control of cursor key are executed.

[0044] A display 104 is a liquid crystal screen only, and controls thedisplay content from the main module 101 to Bluetooth chip 1041. ABluetooth/CCD camera built into a head set 105 is a device forspeech/image interface, and stores Bluetooth chip to executeinput/output of speech and acquirement of image. Both the cellular-phone103 and the headset 105 can be utilized at the same time. Furthermore, adigital camera 1052 differently equipped on the head set 105 may inputan image.

[0045]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of processing of the wearable life supportapparatus according to the first embodiment. Assume that the usercarries a wearable device including the main module 101, each sensormodule 102, the cellular-phone 103, the display 104, and the head set105. When the system is activated (S501), each sensor inputs somephysiological information and acceleration sensor measures theacceleration (S502). An analogue signal from the sensor is processed asamplification, filtering, and A/D conversion by the sensor module. TheA/D converted signal is transferred to the main module 101. The mainmodule 101 processes the instrumentation data by preset logic, anddecides the user's status.

[0046] First, the user's action (movement) is recognized by theacceleration information (S503). As the recognition method, for example,three-dimensional acceleration sensor is attached to predetermined partof the user's body in order to measure the action. In case of measuringmotion of body-trunk-part, this sensor is attached to the waist. Aninclination of the sensor is calculated from DC (direct current) elementobtained by low-pass filter output of acceleration waveform, and theposture is detected. An action (ex. walking, running, riding a bicycle,riding an automobile, taking an electric train) is discriminated from afrequency element and change pattern of AC (alternating current). Forexample, as the acceleration sensor, a two-dimensional accelerationsensor (Analogue Devices Co., ADXL202JQC) is utilized. Athree-dimensional acceleration sensor is composed by an orthogonallocation of two-dimensional acceleration sensor.

[0047] In order to recognize the user's location, in case of beingindoors, the main module communicates with a wireless tag (Bluetooth) ineach room, and detects the user's location. In case of being outdoors,the user's location is detected, for example, using a positioninformation service of the cellular-phone (PHS) or GPS. At the sametime, the physiological information is measured. This measurement methodis explained hereinafter.

[0048] In a pulse wave sensor 1026, a change in blood flow of aperipheral blood vessel such as the measurement part (finger, wrist,ear) is detected as a photoelectrical signal. An incandescent lamp orLED irradiates a light of absorption of wavelength of hemoglobin to thepart gathering blood vessels, and a photodiode converts the transparentlight or the reflected light to a photoelectrical signal. Theseinstrumentation data are amplified and filtered by the preprocess unitand converted to a digital signal by an A/D converter. Then, the digitalsignal is transferred to the main module. The main module detects a peakinterval of this instrumentation of electric potential waveform oranalyzes the frequency and calculates a number of pulses (pulse rate)from this peak frequency.

[0049] Furthermore, the pulse wave sensor 1026 is located at apredetermined distance on the part of the user's body. Two waveforms arerespectively measured, each digital signal is transferred to the mainmodule, and the blood pressure or elastic rate of the blood vessel maybe calculated from the difference between the two waveforms. In case ofmeasuring a pulse, by using an electrocardiogram, the number of beatsmay be calculated from the peak interval or the peak frequency obtainedby frequency analysis. This pulse value and blood pressure value arecontinually measured and stored in the memory 1011 of the main module101. As for the body temperature, the output of a thermometer isconverted to temperature. Furthermore, output of GSR is also stored inthe memory 1011 of the main module 101. In addition to thisinstrumentation value, analogue (voltage) data from the accelerationsensor are stored in the memory after A/D conversion. These data aremutually corresponded by adding the measurement time to each data or bystoring each data in the same record.

[0050] While the measurement is continually executed, if thephysiological information (pulse rate, blood pressure, body temperature)changes, or if the action information changes such as “walking stops”,this change status is detected (S504). Then, the action information (theuser's behavior) is compared with the user's schedule data (S505), and aquestion for insufficient data or contradiction point is presented tothe user by speech synthesis (S506, S507). For example, when an absolutevalue along X, Y, Z axes directions of AC element from the accelerationsensor is above a threshold, the user is decided to be moving, aquestion “What are you doing?” is presented to the user, and the user'sbehavior information is input by speech-recognition of the user's reply(S508, 509). Furthermore, the behavior predicted from the accelerationdata is compared with the schedule data of the present time. In case ofnon-coincidence, a dialogue to confirm the schedule item is presented tothe user, and the prediction result is corrected according to the user'sreply.

[0051] Conversely, if the user is decided to be not moving, thisbehavior is compared with the schedule of the present time to checkwhether non-moving behavior is correct. If the behavior does not matchwith the schedule, a question is presented to the user. For example,this inquiry is executed by speech dialogue. This processing is based onan experience rule to relate the action information with the behavior.For example, when the action information “walking” is acquired,combination between action “walking” and each behavior “sleeping”,“watching TV”, “watching movie” does not actually exist. Accordingly,the relationship of all combinations is previously stored in the memory.In this case, the behavior corresponding to the action information isretrieved from the memory, and the behavior is compared with theschedule of the present time.

[0052]FIG. 6 shows a table representing correspondences between theaction information and the actual behavior. In FIG. 6, actualpossibility of the action (lying, sitting, standing, and so on), whilethe user performs the behavior (sleep, meal, commute, and so on) isrepresented by “O” (The behavior is almost performed by the action.),“Δ” (The behavior is sometimes performed by the action), “X” (Thebehavior is not performed by the action). This probability may berepresented by numerals (For example, 0˜100).

[0053] For example, while the schedule shows a meeting in the meetingroom of the company, if the action information is “continuous walking”,the combination between “walking” and “meeting” is represented as “x” inthe table. Accordingly, the question “The schedule represents meeting,but you are walking outside. How does your schedule change?” ispresented to the user. When the user replies such as “I have to go outbecause of customer trouble.”, the system changes the schedule of thepresent time as “treatment of trouble at a customer (go out)”. Inaddition to the instrumentation and the dialogue, image of the user'smeeting status (customer's image) may be input by CCD camera 1052 on thehead set 105. At the same time, the microphone 1051 may record thedialogue between the user and the customer by directivity along themeeting direction. These data are mutually related by writing the samerecord time or the same file name.

[0054] Furthermore, if the recognized behavior of the present timeshould be performed before in the schedule, the user's behavior isdelayed from the scheduled time. Accordingly, an inquiry message tochange the remaining schedule for the day is presented to the user. Forexample, the inquiry “You are scheduled to go out at 14:00, but you didnot go out. How do you change the schedule?” is output to the user.

[0055] The physiological information may be used for comparison with theschedule. For example, when the user's pulse is quick while working at adesk, it is possible that he changed the schedule. Accordingly, aquestion “Are you walking or running now?” is output to the user. If heis working at a desk, an increase in the pulse rate may be mentally orsickly caused. First, a question “Are you working hard now?” is outputin order to confirm whether the user is under stress. If the user doesnot reply, the user is recognized to be in serious condition. In thiscase, the user's status is reported to a family doctor by thecellular-phone or a warning is given to those around the user.

[0056] Next, it is decided whether the physiological informationcorresponding to the action information (behavior) obtained from theseresults is normal (S510). As a decision method of normal/abnormal, astandard limit of the physiological information for each behavior isstored as a parameter in a memory of the main module, and the measuredphysiological information is compared with the standard limit. If it iswithin the standard limit, the user is decided to be normal. If it isover the standard limit, the user is decided to be abnormal. In case ofabnormal, a message “You are walking to the customer's office now. Yourpulse is high for walking. Do you feel well? You had better take arest.” is presented to the user by speech synthesis (S511). If the useraccepts this message, he replies, for example, “all right (acceptance)”,otherwise he may reply, for example, “Shut up! (refusal)”. This reply isrecognized in order to confirm whether the user accepts or rejects themessage. If the user thinks that the standard limit (parameter) isstrictly set, he replies “No problem” or “Shut up!”. In this case, the,parameter is slightly corrected in order to loosely set.

[0057] The threshold limit to detect abnormal status is set as aparameter according to the user's purpose and personal information suchas his constitution or heredity by set mode. FIG. 7 shows a relationbetween the threshold set and the screen. As shown in FIG. 7, when theuser inputs each item in order by speech dialogue at operation starttime, the threshold corresponding to each item is set, and the modelcourse is selected by weighting of the constitution or the heredity. Forexample, in case the meal control is set “ON”, a myoelectric sensor ofchewing muscles is utilized to measure the movement of the jaw. In casethe real time advice is set “ON”, the decision result of the measurementand the advice is presented at that timing. Furthermore, when the pulserate during exercise is above the threshold of exercise, a warning ispresented.

[0058] As the presentation method, following several kinds areselectively set at the initialization mode. As a first method, thevalues measured by the wearable sensor are directly presented, such as“The upper blood pressure is 130 and the lower blood pressure is 70.”.As a second method, the measurement value is compared with the standardvalue. If it is over the standard value, the message is presented, suchas “The blood pressure value is over the standard value.”. Furthermore,advice may be additionally presented, such as “Your blood pressure valueis continuously high. You had better consult a doctor.”. Furthermore,when the wearable sensor measures the abnormal value, the user'sbehavior is inquired, such as “Your blood pressure value is over thestandard value. What are you doing? What have you been doing?”. As athird method, the time (place, behavior) to measure the physiologicalinformation is set and the data change of every day is fed back to theuser. For example, the body temperature thirty minutes after the usergets up is measured every morning. The data change such as “Your bodytemperature is higher than usual.” is presented in order for the user tointuitively understand the status.

[0059] The utilization mode is explained for each life spot. Duringsleeping, the physiological information is only measured by smallelectric power mode. The message is not presented to the user except forserious case. As the small electric power mode, a battery is charged. Incase of the hour of rising set by the schedule, the user wakes upbecause of a speech or alarm of vibration from the headset. The statusthat the user wakes up is detected by electroencephalography. If heawakes before alarming but does not rise yet, the message “It is thehour of rising” is presented instead of the alarm. A posture sensor suchas the acceleration sensor detects the status that the user actuallygets up. If the user does not rise yet, the message is presented againto urge the user to rise. Next, when the posture sensor detects thestatus that the user got up, the user is decided to start his action.Then, by referring to the schedule data, the leaving time from the houseis informed to the user by counting backward from going time to theoffice. For example, the message “You had better leave the house at 8:10AM.” is output. Furthermore, a subtraction of the hour of rising fromthe hour of sleeping is calculated, and sleeping time is detected. If itis shorter than average sleeping time by over set limit, the message“Your sleeping time is short. You had better come back home earlywithout overwork.” is presented while he is going to the office. Thismessage may be also presented to the user during overtime working.

[0060] As for the meal, the electromyogram of chewing muscles and thespeech detects the status that the user takes a meal. An electrode setat the jaw measures the electromyogram of chewing muscles. If theelectromyogram periodically repeats as the same change of period ofchewing, the user is decided to be taking a meal, and a question “Areyou eating?” is presented. When the user replies “Yes.”, a question“What are you eating?” is presented. Alternatively, an object image ofthe meal is obtained and the dish is recognized by the image. In case ofeating-out, components printed on a menu are recognized or the componentis detected using a spoon or chopsticks including sensors. The quantityof food not consumed is inquired or input by image-recognition after themeal. The amount of chewing is counted based on the electromyogram ofthe chewing muscles, and a large or small amount of chewing is decidedfor the quantity of the meal. The method of eating is advised from aviewpoint of the eating time and the amount of chewing. For example,“More slowly” and “More chewing” are presented while eating.Furthermore, any unbalanced element of the meal is counted for everyweak or every month, and nourishment or calorie quantity far from thestandard value is warned. When the user leaves the house without eatingbreakfast, a message “If you do not eat a breakfast, working efficiencyin the morning falls.” is presented to the user.

[0061] The sensor's “ON/OFF” is controlled by the behavior or the actionin order to save electric power. For example, the acceleration sensor isset “OFF” during sleeping, and set “ON” when the user wakes up. When theuser feels that the message is troublesome during the dialogue, he mayvoice a rejection reply such as “Shut up!” or “Stop!”. If the userrepeats the rejection reply, this message may not be presented to theuser after confirmation (The initialization set value is changed).Instead of this message, summary of the physiological information of oneday may be displayed.

[0062] Next, the wearable life support apparatus according to a secondembodiment is explained. The component of the wearable terminal carriedby the user is the same as the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.However, the physiological information and the action information arestored in a memory of main module by unit of the measurement timing.This stored information is called “sensor information corpus”.

[0063]FIG. 8 is a flow chart of processing of the system according tothe second embodiment. First, the system is activated (S801), andinstrumentation of the physiological information and the accelerationbegins (S802). The user's posture is recognized by DC element of theacceleration, and the user's motion (periodical motion: walking,running, taking an electric train, getting in a car, riding a bicycle)is recognized by AC element of the acceleration (S803). If theinstrumentation value or the action changes (S804), this action iscompared with the schedule data registered in PIM soft in order to checkwhether it is matched with the schedule of the present time (S805). Incase of non-coincidence, the schedule is confirmed by speech dialogue(S807, S808). For example, a question “In the schedule, you will attendthe meeting. However, are you walking in outside?” is presented to theuser. When the user replies “Yes”, the next question “Why do you changethe schedule?” is presented to the user. When the user replies “I haveto go out because trouble occurred at a customer's office.”, the systemchanges the schedule as “trouble at a customer's office” (S809). Next,the sensor information corpus stored in the memory of the main module isretrieved using a key such as the behavior information, the date, andthe place obtained (S810).

[0064] The sensor information corpus is now explained in detail. Thephysiological information measured by the wearable terminal is preservedin relationship with a tag such as the time, the place, the behavior,and the environment. This database is retrieved by the tag as a key andis called “sensor information corpus”. The corpus represents anaccumulation of data, which is used in language processing area. Forexample, FIG. 9 shows a trend graph representing change of the bloodpressure over one day. In this way, the physiological information ismutually related with the movement quantity and the action history(commuting, work, and so on), and structured as a database. In thisdatabase, a tag representing an abnormal case or a tag representing acause of change is recorded.

[0065] As another example, FIG. 10 is a display example of pulse changeand action posture. The pulse value and the action posture of thattiming are displayed by different color. When the user clicks anarbitrary point on the screen, data (time, action posture, input image,recorded speech) simultaneously collected from other sensor areretrieved from the corpus and displayed on another window as shown inFIG. 11. When the user further clicks the retrieved data on the screen,the user can refer the detail data.

[0066] Furthermore, FIGS. 12, 13 and 14 are respectively displayexamples of stress acquired from a plurality of physiologicalinformation during one day, one week and one month. In this way, thedata can be displayed as various formats by assigning each tag.

[0067]FIGS. 15A, 15B, 15C, and 15D show examples of corpus items as fourkinds of the physiological information corpus. As shown in FIG. 15A, theaction content (behavior), the posture (the pitch in case of periodicalmovement), the pulse rate, the blood pressure, the body temperature, andthe GSR values, are recorded for each date and each place. The actioncontent represents the user's life pattern. In this case, a part of thelife pattern is shown. A form of the corpus is selectively used. Asshown in FIG. 15B, the average of the physiological information corpusby unit of the time or the action content is utilized as the standard.As shown in FIGS. 15C and 15D, trend corpus by sorting the trend data isutilized to display one day trend graph or one year trend graph.

[0068] Furthermore, examples of which the physiological informationcorpus is described by another method are shown in FIGS. 16 and 17. Theyare described by XML format. FIG. 16 shows description ofsynchronization information of each data collected by each sensor(acceleration sensor, pulse sensor, camera, microphone). FIG. 17 showsdescription of data from the acceleration sensor (two axes) as oneexample of sensor data.

[0069] In this way, when the event occurs and similar data is retrievedfrom the sensor information corpus, the measured physiologicalinformation is compared with the corpus value (the similar data) inorder to decide whether the physiological information is normal (S818).In case of an abnormal result, the decision result is written in thecorpus (S819), and the advice is presented to the user by speechsynthesis (S820). As similar data to be compared with the measuredphysiological information, for example, the stored physiologicalinformation of the same time before one week for the same behavior isretrieved from the corpus. This comparison object is changed in the setmode mentioned in the first embodiment. For example, if the averagevalue of one month, or the stored physiological information of the sameperiod in last year is indicated, the comparison result is replied. Whenthe measured physiological information as the comparison object isdecided to be abnormal, this physiological information is newly storedin the corpus. Furthermore, when the user activates his carrying display(140, 304), the display outputs the trend graph of one week or one monthin the past. Alternatively, when the alarm is previously output to theuser, the user may activate the display to output the trend graph.

[0070] As the registration to the corpus, all data when the actioninformation or the physiological information changes can be acquired.However, some physiological information is periodically measured (Forexample, at thirty minute intervals). If the all trend data of one dayincludes a problem, the problem is registered as the tag. Furthermore,these data may be registered as a personal database in relation with thelife pattern (action history).

[0071] Furthermore, if the user executes action/behavior as a cause ofwhich the physiological information changes, the physiologicalinformation is changing by the action/behavior along time. However, thetime on which the change appears is different by the kind of thephysiological information. Accordingly, when the action/behavior as thecause of which the physiological information changes occurs, the changeof the physiological information is measured after passing the timepredetermined by the kind of the physiological information, and theinstrumentation data are recorded in the corpus in relation to theaction/behavior. For example, weight change in case of having a meal ismeasured just after the meal. However, glucose level is measured afterthirty minutes from the meal and recorded in the corpus in relation tothe meal (If necessary, content of the meal). Alternatively, theinstrumentation may be continuously executed. In case of data retrieval,the retrieval area may be called from a table by the kind of thephysiological information. For example, the instrumentation period ofthe glucose level is set as one hour in the table. If the user selectsthe meal (For example, breakfast) in the action through the action graphscreen, “one hour” is read from the table and a graph of glucose levelduring one hour after the meal is displayed. Furthermore, if a graph ofelectrocardiogram is set as one graph, only one graph is extracted byclicking one point on displayed graph.

[0072] Furthermore, above-mentioned similar data retrieval can beexecuted by real time. When the similar data is retrieved from thesensor information corpus by real time using the physiologicalinformation/action information measured by the sensor module 102 (302),the similar data may be simultaneously output through the display 104and the status may be reappeared in order for the user to recognize thepresent status. For example, in case that the pulse as the physiologicalinformation and the action/posture information from the accelerationsensor as the behavior information are recorded, and the dynamic imageand the speech are simultaneously recorded, if the instrumentation datais abnormal based on the change of pulse and the behavior information incomparison with the past average value, the past data similar to thechange pattern is retrieved. In addition to the pulse rate data (orgraph) and the behavior information of the present status, the dynamicimage and the speech in the retrieved data are output through thedisplay 104 (304).

[0073] Furthermore, the trend data in case of normal results is averagedby unit of one day, one week, one month, one year for the same lifepattern (the same action), and processed as the average trend data.

[0074] As mentioned-above, when the user thinks that the message istroublesome, he voices a rejection message such as “Shut up!” or“Stop!”. If the user repeatedly utters the rejection message, the systemdoes not present the advice after confirming with the user. This user'sindication is preserved in the corpus, and summed up at the end of eachmonth. The fact that the threshold is loosely reset may be presented tothe user in order for the user to reconsider. Furthermore, when thepresent time coincides with a preset time (For example, 10:00 PM, orafter dinner), the average value of the physiological information (theblood pressure, the pulse, the body temperature, GSR) of one day iscalculated for each behavior, and presented by speech message. If theuser is interested in this message, he indicates the behavior to displaythe detail information. In response to the indication, the detailinformation (FIG. 18) or the trend graph (FIG. 19) related with theindicated behavior is presented through a portable display or a hometelevision. As the presentation method, the average value of one day ofeach behavior is displayed as a list, and the trend graph of one weekand one month in the past is also displayed in case of indication.Furthermore, the number of footsteps is calculated from the pulse valueand the acceleration data, and calorie consumption is calculated fromthe number of footsteps and the behavior information. The calorie of oneday is decided by the consumption calorie and absorbed calorie of allmeals. Then, a warning that the user suffers a lack of exercise, theuser had too much food, or the nourishment is biased is output to theuser.

[0075] A method of measuring the stress degree using the pulse or GSR isexplained. In case of the pulse, when the measured pulse is faster thana preset limit or normal value, it is confirmed whether the user ismoving from just before (several tens of seconds before) by the ACelement of the acceleration sensor. If the user is not moving, theabnormal status of the pulse is decided to be caused by a psychologicalchange of the user, and a product of the pulse rate is calculated as thestress degree. In case of GSR, if a first transition of change is fasterthan the preset timing, the first transition is counted up as the stressdegree. The counted value is displayed at a predetermined time (Forexample, before sleeping), and the comment is additionally displayed.For example, if the counted value is within the limit being understress, the comment “Today, you are under stress. Please relax bylistening to music or taking a tepid bath slowly.” is displayed.Furthermore, at the end of each week, a weekly summary of the healthcondition may be displayed. The user can indicate the display of thesummary if necessary.

[0076] Next, the wearable life support apparatus according to a thirdembodiment is explained. The component of the wearable terminal carriedby the user is the same as the first embodiment (FIG. 1 or FIG. 3).However, in the outside, a home server stores the physiologicalinformation, the action information, and the environment informationacquired from an outside network, and an area server manages theinformation in an ambient area. The system of the third embodimentincludes the home server and the area server. FIG. 20 is a block diagramof the wearable life support system according to the third embodiment.As shown in FIG. 20, the home server includes a personal physiologicalinformation corpus 131 and a personal environment information corpus 132that stores environment information surrounding the user. The areaserver includes a city environment information corpus 133 that storeslocal environment information of city, town, village, and a companyphysiological information corpus 134 that stores information for eacharea or each company. These corpora are mutually connected by a network.The city environment information corpus 133 and the companyphysiological information corpus 134 may be merged as a prefecture orstate sensor information corpus 135.

[0077] Next, FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a relationship among thewearable terminal, the home server, and a family doctor/managementcompany server according to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 21,the physiological information and the action information measured by thewearable terminal are stored in a memory of the wearable terminal, andtransferred to the home server. The home server retrieves the personalenvironment information corpus 132 and the prefecture sensor informationcorpus 135 of local/company server based on the transferred informationand obtains the environment information (temperature, humidity, and soon) surrounding the user and the user's status information such as placeor the user's facing person through the network. In short, the data setsimilar to the user's present status is retrieved from the informationand downloaded to the wearable terminal. Alternatively, the corpus datarelated to the user's status is previously downloaded from the server tothe wearable terminal. However, in an unexpected case, the wearableterminal obtains the relationship data through communication byaccessing the home server or a public server. For example, in case theuser is a salaried man of business job, the user's status informationrepresents personal data of the salaried man of business job andpersonal data of a person of similar environment stored in the sensorinformation corpus of outside.

[0078] In the sensor information corpus of the third embodiment, inaddition to the physiological information and the action information ofthe second embodiment, the environment information such as temperature,humidity, the image of the user's facing person, and speech surroundingthe user are stored. These data are transferred to the home serverthrough the cellular-phone at a predetermined time, or are directlytransferred to the home server by Bluetooth when the user is at home. Inthis case, the sum result and the stress degree of one day, and thetrend data are displayed using the home server.

[0079] The wearable life support system is connected to an outsidenetwork. Accordingly, the following use situations are considered. Asthe use situation in life scene, in case of excretion, the status thatthe user enters a toilet room is detected by location recognition usinga wireless tag or by speech dialogue during the user's walking in thehouse. In this case, a weighting machine and a body fat machinerespectively detect the user's weight and body fat. The component ofexcretions is analyzed and transferred to the main module of thewearable terminal thorough Bluetooth.

[0080] It is difficult for the user to wear the wearable sensor whilethe user is taking a bath. Accordingly, an electrocardiogram sensor setto the bath detects the user's heart rate. After taking a bath, when theuser wears the wearable terminal again, these data are transferred fromthe memory of the bath to the wearable terminal through Bluetooth.

[0081] Furthermore, an electrode to recognize the body wear is equippedin the wearable terminal. By detecting whether the electrode is excitingor insulating, the status whether the user wears the wearable terminalis recognized. While the user interacts speech dialogue through thewearable terminal or wears the display of the wearable terminal, theinformation is presented to the user by using these devices. While theuser takes off the wearable terminal, the interface is exchanged to thedialogue system or the information system (For example, a homeinformation terminal) surrounding the user. In short, the presentationmeans including the surrounding interface is exchanged by detachabilityof the wearable terminal.

[0082] In the above-mentioned three embodiments, the informationpresentation to the user is executed by the speech synthesis. However,this presentation may be executed by image or character through ahead-mounted display, a pendant type display, or a wristwatch typedisplay. Furthermore, if a message for the user is stored, a vibrator isbuilt in the wristwatch type display or the cellular-phone and theexistence of the message is informed to the user by the vibrator.

[0083] Furthermore, the feedback media for the user's status is changedbased on the measured/recognized behavior. For example, speech isutilized while walking, and the display is utilized while working. Themessage is not presented while sleeping. In case of an urgent status,this information is sent to those around the user, a family doctor, or amanagement company in addition to the user. When a serious case (theuser himself can not cope with) is detected, this status is broadcast toa plurality of terminals of those around the user. In this case, themedia is converted according to the use mode of each terminal in orderto inform who and where the serious status occurs. By adding the urgentdegree, for example, the more urgent status is informed by the largervolume.

[0084] If it is necessary that the user must measure the physiologicalinformation by oneself (if automatic instruction and data transmissioncan not be executed), a message to urge the user to measure is displayedaccording to the instrumentation schedule. If the user does not measurethe physiological information, a message to force the instrumentation isperiodically displayed (The method for displaying the message isinteractively controlled.).

[0085] Another use situation using the above-mentioned component isexplained. When the wearable terminal downloads prescription data of thedoctor from a hospital server, a message to urge the user to prescribemedicine based on the data is displayed in cooperation with the user'sbehavior. For example, after having a meal, by displaying a message“Please take two capsules of medicine after a meal.”, the user's takingis confirmed and preserved as the record. An electrical signature isassigned to the prescription data in order to clear the doctor'sresponsibility. Personal information such as the condition of a patientor the case history is additionally preserved. In case of an urgentcase, those around the patient, ambulance operators, and the doctor canrefer the personal information.

[0086] Furthermore, a route guidance based on the user's status can bepresented. The route guidance represents a service to present a coursefrom the user's present location (or the nearest station) to thedestination. In case of determining the course, the physiologicalinformation and the action information acquired by the wearable sensorare additionally used as parameters (constraint conditions). Forexample, if the user's fatigue degree is high, a route for the user tofollow without stairs is created. The fatigue degree is extracted by thecondition such as the case that the user exercised greatly or the userrepeatedly executed the same working while the behavior information iscontinuously measured. In this case, a question “Are you tired?” ispresented to the user. The parameter of the fatigue degree is slightlycontrolled by this result.

[0087] In the third embodiment, Bluetooth is used as the communicationbetween the modules. However, if the communication of personal level isexecuted, various kinds of methods are selectively utilized. The specialtechnique (PAN: Personal Area Network) to process electric signal byusing the human body as a conductor may be utilized. In the same way,IrDA may be utilized. The above-mentioned three embodiments areexplained by the wireless communication. However, the wiredcommunication such as RS232C may also be used.

[0088] In the third embodiment, the instrumentation data is processed byA/D conversion, and the user's status is decided by a using digitalsignal. However, it may be decided by analogue signal processing. FIG.22 shows an example of component of the sensor module using the analoguecircuit. As shown in FIG. 22, after analogue signals from each sensorpass through a preprocess unit 151, a comparator 152 processes thesignals by the threshold and outputs digital signals “0” “1” as thestatus information. A logic circuit 153 detects the user's status byreferring to the digital signals, and the detection result is outputthrough a display unit 154 (LED, LCD, and so on).

[0089] Next, modification examples of above-mentioned embodiment areexplained. The component of the wearable terminal carried by the user isthe same as the first embodiment. In this case, a method for retrievingthe similar data from the sensor information corpus and for displayingas waveform level is explained. FIG. 23 shows one example of graph ofthe physiological information measured by the wearable terminal. If thiswaveform includes a part of which the user wishes to refer similarinstances in the past, the user indicates the part as a square area (orellipse and so on) using area indication means (For example, mouse orpen) as shown in FIG. 24. The indicated area is regarded as retrievalrequest data and a part similar to the waveform in the indicated area isretrieved by pattern matching. Furthermore, if a characteristic event isincluded in adjacent data of the similar part, the event is additionallydisplayed. FIG. 25 is one example of the retrieval result. In this way,the user can previously know some fit and receive a suitable treatmentearly.

[0090] Furthermore, in this case, the retrieval method or therecognition method may be controlled by the indicated shape of the area.For example, as for the area surrounded by the square, similar one isretrieved from the past data. As for the area surrounded by the ellipse,it is simply decided whether the data in the area is normal or abnormal.In case of abnormal, even if the shape is not similar, the past data incase of abnormal can be displayed.

[0091] Furthermore, in case of periodical physiological information suchas electrocardiogram, the area can be indicated by the number ofoperation times using the area indication means except forabove-mentioned area indication. For example, when the user operates amouse as the area indication means, in case of single click as shown inFIG. 26, the waveform of one pulse is selected for retrieval. In case ofdouble clicks as shown in FIG. 27, the waveform of two pulses areselected for retrieval.

[0092] Furthermore, abnormal detection means for recognizing/detectingsome abnormal part in the physiological information may be prepared. Forexample, in case of electrocardiogram, arrhythmia data is automaticallydetected. In response to the click operation, all of abnormal data canbe selected and retrieved as shown in FIG. 28. In this case, theabnormal detection means may relatively detect the abnormal part bycomparing with the past average value in the sensor information corpus.Otherwise, the abnormal detection means may absolutely detect theabnormal part by medical knowledge.

[0093] Furthermore, above-mentioned similar data retrieval can beexecuted by real time. When the similar data is retrieved from thesensor information corpus by real time using the physiologicalinformation/action information measured by the sensor module 102 (302),the similar data may be simultaneously output through the display 104and the status may be reappeared in order for the user to recognize thepresent status. For example, in case that the pulse as the physiologicalinformation and the action/posture information from the accelerationsensor as the behavior information are recorded, and the dynamic imageand the speech are simultaneously recorded, if the instrumentation datais abnormal based on the change of pulse and the behavior information incomparison with the past average value, the past data similar to thechange pattern is retrieved. In addition to the pulse value (or graph)and the behavior information of the present status, the dynamic imageand the speech in the retrieved data are output through the display 104(304).

[0094] As mentioned-above, in the wearable life support apparatus of thepresent invention, the physiological information and the actioninformation are correspondingly measured from the user's body.Accordingly, the user's health condition is decided by the physiologicalinformation related with the action, and adequate advice is presented tothe user. Furthermore, by comparing the action information with theuser's schedule, the user's life custom is correctly guided to theuser's desired schedule.

[0095] A memory device, such as a CD-ROM, floppy disk, hard diskmagnetic tape, or semiconductor memory can be used to store instructionsfor causing a processor or computer to perform the processes describedabove.

[0096] Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practiceof the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specificationand examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope andspirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wearable life support apparatus, comprising: aphysiological information acquirement unit configured to acquirephysiological information; an action information acquirement unitconfigured to acquire action information; a status recognition unitconfigured to recognize a status in accordance with the acquired actioninformation; a physiological information decision unit configured todecide whether the acquired physiological information is normal inaccordance with the recognized status; and a presentation unitconfigured to present a decision result of said physiologicalinformation decision.
 2. The wearable life support apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein said physiological information unit includes atleast one of a pulse wave sensor, an electroencephalogram electrode, acardiac electrode, a myoelectric electrode, a body temperature sensor,and a GSR electrode.
 3. The wearable life support apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said action information acquirement unit includes anacceleration sensor.
 4. The wearable life support apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein said presentation unit includes at least one of adisplay, a cellular-phone, and a speaker.
 5. The wearable life supportapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input unitconfigured to input supplemental information based on the recognitionresult of said status recognition unit and the decision result of saidphysiological information decision unit.
 6. The wearable life supportapparatus according to claim 1, wherein data transmission between saidaction information acquirement unit and said status recognition unit,data transmission between said physiological information acquirementunit and said physiological information decision unit, data transmissionbetween said physiological information decision unit and saidpresentation unit, are executed by wireless communication.
 7. Thewearable life support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidstatus recognition unit stores the user's schedule, and a tablerepresenting a correspondence between each action information and eachbehavior of the user.
 8. The wearable life support apparatus accordingto claim 7, wherein, when at least one of the action information and thephysiological information changes, said status recognition unitretrieves a behavior corresponding to the action information from thetable, and compares the behavior with the user's schedule.
 9. Thewearable life support apparatus according to claim 8, wherein, if thebehavior does not match with the user's schedule, said presentation unitpresents a non-coincidence message between the behavior and the scheduleto the user.
 10. The wearable life support apparatus according to claim9, wherein, when said input unit inputs supplemental informationrepresenting a reason for the non-coincidence, said status recognitionunit corrects the schedule by referring to the supplemental information.11. The wearable life support apparatus according to claim 8, whereinsaid physiological information decision unit checks whether thephysiological information is normal based on the behavior correspondingto the action information.
 12. The wearable life support apparatusaccording to claim 11, wherein, if the physiological information is notnormal, said presentation unit presents advice to recover the normalphysiological information.
 13. The wearable life support apparatusaccording to claim 5, wherein said input unit pre-sets a user casehistory, a user characteristic and constitution, and a dialogue model.14. The wearable life support apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising a corpus memory configured to correspondingly store thephysiological information, the action information, the status, and thedecision result.
 15. The wearable life support apparatus according toclaim 14, wherein said physiological information decision unit retrievesthe physiological information corresponding to the present status fromsaid corpus memory, and compares the present physiological informationwith the retrieved physiological information.
 16. The wearable lifesupport apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, if the physiologicalinformation corresponding to the present status is not stored in saidcorpus memory, said corpus memory stores the present physiologicalinformation in correspondence with the present status.
 17. The wearablelife support apparatus according to claim 15, wherein, if saidphysiological information decision unit decides that the presentphysiological information is not normal based on the comparison result,said corpus memory stores the present physiological information and thedecision result.
 18. The wearable life support apparatus according toclaim 14, wherein said corpus memory stores a physiological informationcorpus, an average value corpus, a one day trend corpus, and a one yeartrend corpus, wherein the physiological information corpus includes thephysiological information and the behavior of each time and date,wherein the average value corpus includes an average value of thephysiological information of each behavior, wherein the one day trendcorpus includes physiological history data and the behavior of one dayfor each kind of the physiological information, and wherein the one yeartrend corpus includes physiological history data and the behavior of oneyear for each kind of the physiological information.
 19. The wearablelife support apparatus according to claim 18, wherein said presentationunit presents comment of health condition of one day based on thephysiological information corpus and the average value corpus to theuser.
 20. The wearable life support apparatus according to claim 19,wherein said presentation unit presents a trend graph of thephysiological information and behavior history of one day based on theone day trend corpus and the one year trend corpus.
 21. The wearablelife support apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said corpus memoryfurther stores personal environment information related to the status,wherein the personal environment information is exchanged from a localoutside sensor information corpus through a network, and wherein thelocal sensor information corpus collects local sensor information froman environment information corpus of particular area and a physiologicalinformation corpus of particular company through the network.
 22. Thewearable life support apparatus according to claim 21, wherein saidphysiological information decision unit retrieves the personalenvironment information corresponding to the status from said corpusmemory, and decides whether the physiological information is normal inaccordance with the personal environment information.
 23. A method forsupporting a user's life using a wearable type device, comprising thesteps of: acquiring physiological information through the wearable typedevice; acquiring action information through the wearable type device;recognizing a status in accordance with the action information; decidingwhether the physiological information is normal in accordance with thestatus; and presenting a decision result at the deciding step throughthe wearable type device.
 24. A computer-readable memory containingcomputer-readable instructions to support a user's life using a wearabletype device, comprising: an instruction unit to acquire physiologicalinformation through the wearable type device; an instruction unit toacquire action information through the wearable type device; aninstruction unit to recognize a status in accordance with the actioninformation; an instruction unit to decide whether the physiologicalinformation is normal in accordance with the status; and an instructionunit to present the decision result through the wearable type device.